Born in May 1512, in
Hampshire, southern
England, Brooks became a
Fellow of
Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1532, took the
B.A. that same year and in 1546 the
D.D. He was
Master of
Balliol College, Oxford in the years 1547–1555. He was
Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Oxford during 1552–3. Widely known as an eloquent preacher, with the deprivation of
John Hooper on the accession of
Queen Mary, Brooks succeeded him as
Bishop of Gloucester by papal provision in 1554 and was consecrated on 1 April. In 1555, Brooks was one of the
papal sub-delegates in the
Royal Commission for the trial of the
Oxford Martyrs,
Thomas Cranmer,
Hugh Latimer, and
Nicholas Ridley. Brooks was a man not only of learning but also of integrity. He refused to degrade Ridley, probably on the ground that Ridley's consecration in 1547 had been according to the invalid form which was established by law very soon after that date. If, as the
Protestant polemicist
John Foxe asserts, Brooks refused to degrade Latimer as well, his position may have been based upon the fact that Latimer had lived for several years as a simple clergyman. Brooks died in July or August 1558. He was buried in
Gloucester Cathedral, but without a monument. ==References==